Question 1: Describe in your own words the three kinds of skepticism defined in Chapter 7. Explain which (if any) would best describe Descartes’ method and give reasons for your judgment.
First, Commonsense Skepticism provides the opportunity for us to know many of the most obvious things that we know. This includes the truth of simple perceptions, such as is my wife tells me there are elephants standing in our backyard, I know with certainty there are none there. Or, that if someone tells me that nothing will happen to me if I step out in front of a moving bus, I know for certain that I will have a great chance of getting hurt if I do that. These are easy conclusions based in commonsense to problems that can keep humans reasonably safe.
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Why does Plato have Socrates say that the true philosopher will welcome death? How does this tie in with Plato’s theory of knowledge? Foremost among Plato's introduction of the Theory of Forms is the idea of Being. The theory proposes that abstract concepts, such as courage or justice or beauty or goodness, exist as immaterial and unchanging ideas. Plato sought to prove that the soul pre-exists due to the innate ideas that we have in our minds, that could not otherwise have come from our sensory experiences. (Miller, p. 189)
According to the Phaedo, true philosophers spend their entire lives preparing for death and dying, so it would be uniquely odd if they were to be sad when the moment of death finally arrived. Death, Socrates explains, is the separation of the soul from the body. Thus the soul, leaving the body at death, is liberated and fulfills his lifetime goal of the search for absolute knowledge. (Miller, p. 189) This is the connection to Plato’s Theory of Forms, the soul derives certain knowledge from the Forms, that is otherwise inexplicably
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Explain Chomsky’s contributions to the theory of knowledge. In what sense is he a rationalist? What problems could be raised about his theory?
Chomsky proposed a theory of language acquisition, which holds that at least some knowledge about language exists in humans at birth. Additionally, that all languages share some properties of organization and structure. (Miller, p. 198)
Chomsky’s research reinforces the idea of innate knowledge by treating the innate idea as a fixed form (common grammar hypothesis), which resembles the rationalist doctrine of ideas. (Miller, p. 199)
The validity of this innate knowledge is questionable, due to the appearance that it is founded on intuitions. This leads to questions, such as; Where does this knowledge come from? How can it be known that the knowledge is pure and actually true? (Miller, p. 200)
5. Fully describe Locke’s criticisms against theories of innate ideas. Why is it difficult to prove your ideas correspond to reality if you hold his theory of knowledge?
Locke disagrees with the theory that human beings are born knowing certain things. His stance takes two basic forms. He states that are minds process “external” and “internal experiences. He further states that says these experiences are either part of the passive mind; the simple ideas that come from our senses and perceptions, or it can be about the active mind; complex ideas that are formed by combining simple ones. (Miller, p.
You asked me to respond to the following, “Eventually Descartes does find something he cannot doubt. What is it? What kind of reasoning supports his conclusion?”
Locke’s states that “All knowledge comes from the senses through experience” interpreted when Locke’s “blank slate” idea to when we are kids we know nothing. Our brains have to make connections to things and these connections are gained through experience and continues
Plato sees death as a good thing and the way we can understand this is by reference to the Platonic forms. The platonic forms are the essence of the abstract; they are the purity and the true Good that are clouded by materialism. For instance, we have beauty that is hidden in aesthetic objects (or in love); we have Justice, Truth, and many other Ideals. Access to these Ideals affords us true bliss and Knowledge (which is the essence of intimate contact with a God, or the immoveable being of all who stands outside the world). However, since we are in this corporeal world, we are distracted by our body and by physicality from these Real substances. The philosopher, therefore, looks forward to death when his soul (that which hunkers towards these Ideals) will be separated from the distracting body and be able to clearly and keenly perceive the Forms in their unblighted essence.
Within this essay, I am going to argue that the simple soul is a more plausible conception than the idea of multiplicity within the soul within Plato’s work. This is due to the multiplicity of the soul resting on a circular argument of Plato’s ideal city which in turn rests back upon his idea of the tripartite soul. However, it can also be argued that neither conceptions of the soul are plausible due to them both relying on Plato’s theory of the Forms. Throughout Plato’s works of the Phaedo and the Republic, his account for the soul is conflicting as Plato’s two accounts cannot be reconciled. I will also refer to Plato’s work in the Phaedrus to aid my explanation of the multiplicity within the soul.
According to this allegory, which is related to Plato's Theory of Forms", the "Forms" (or Ideas"), own the highest and most fundamental kind of reality, and not the material world of change known to us through sensation. Real knowledge composes of knowledge of the Forms only. It is an attempt to explain the philosopher's place in society and to attempt to impart knowledge to the "prisoners".
In Locke’s essay, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, he explains where and how one’s knowledge was formed. He reiterates that “Whatsoever the Mind perceives in it self, or is the immediate object of Perception, Thought, or Understanding, that I call Idea; and the Power to produce in any Idea
After reading the analysis of innate ideas of the two philosophers. I tend to agree with Locke’s argument that there is no such innate ideas. First, Descartes does not proving enough about how can we born with innate ideas? This major flaw eventually get to Locke’s tension and give us a strong evident of the young children should aware of truth if they have innate ideas in them. Second, I believe in Locke’s criticism about ideas only gain through our experiences and situations. Thus the more experience we have, the vivid picture about our external world we can perceived.
Locke instead is an empiricist, and therefore he directly critiques Descartes epistemic system and tries to establish his own foundation of knowledge. Locke believes that our knowledge of the world comes from what our senses tell us. Locke’s theory state that we are all born with a blank slate, tabula rasa, before we
Locke also believes that people have innate ideas through experiences. He has three explanations for this idea. Firstly, if we had innate ideas, we would know that we have them, which means that if you have ideas they are conscience and everything you think, you think you think. Secondly, if there were innate truths of reason we would all agree on them. Lastly, our memory cannot recall these innate ideas.
Descartes’ method offers definitive conclusions on certain topics, (his existence, the existence of God)but his reasoning is not without error. He uses three arguments to prove existence (His and God’s) that attempt to solidify his conclusions. For his method to function seamlessly, Descartes needs to be consistent in his use of the method, that is, he must continue to doubt and challenge thoughts that originate in his own mind. He is unable to achieve this ideal state of mind, however, and his proofs are shown to be faulty.
In conclusion, this essay shows the knowledge is achieved by having a compromise between empiricists and rationalists such as Lucke, the empiricist, who accept intuition theory. Although this essay has concluded rationalism stand in opposition to empiricism, each one has advantages that contribute to our acquisition of knowledge. To avoid conflict, we must establish sound truth by trying to apply logic to experience, and verify our reasoning. After all, they support our attempts to know and understand truth and our world.
Chomsky is relatively blatant in his rejection of these ends. He later states, “[The linguist] is, first of all, concerned to report data
Plato was interested in how we can apply a single word or concept to many words or things. For example how can the word house be used for all the individual dwellings that are houses? Plato answered that various things can be called by the same name because they have something in common. He called this common factor the thing’s form or idea. Plato insisted that the forms differ greatly from the ordinary things that we see around us. Ordinary things change but their forms do not. A particular triangle may be altered in size or shape but the form of a triangle can never change. Plato concluded that forms exist neither in space or time. They can be known not only by the intellect but also by the senses. Because of their stability and perfection, the forms have greater reality than ordinary objects observed by the senses. Thus true knowledge is knowledge of the forms.
The linguistic theory of Chomsky has changed the long, traditional way of studying language. The nature of knowledge, which is closely tied to human knowledge in general, makes it a logical step for Chomsky to generalize his theory to the study of the relation between language and the world-in particular, the study of truth and reference. But his theory has been controversial and his proposal of "innate ideas" has been resisted by some empiricists who characterize him as rationalist. In our view, these empiricists make a mistake. In the present paper we attend to his position regarding linguistics as a science of mind/brain, which we believe is an important aspect of his theory that has not been paid enough attention or understood by
Plato’s ideas regarding the body and the soul relates to his Theory of Forms/Ideas because he explains that the body is just a mere obstacle for the soul. IT makes it sound like when your soul is living its life within the body, its just an illusion, and when your